This comment by JohnH on the post Jimmy Savile, Rape Culture and the Lessons for Us All
But rape is a problem of control, not sex, and control is, necessarily, linked to general disrespect and dominance, to a general lack of consent even in mild issues of dominance. We need to decide if there is a continuum of disrespect, micro-aggressions, sexual advances, sexual violence, rape and predatory sexual behavior.” Yes Graham, our definition of rape needs to be expanded to include a wide variety of human disrespect and transgressions. That feminists have Shanghaied the term to give women a elevated sense of victimization shows a lack of compassion and respect for all those who have been forced to submit to dominance and shame. No, this is not a simple case of male aggression against females, but a broader spectrum of power and control of an elite over the disenfranchised. As you point out in the Jimmy Savile case, a celebrity (rich and famous) can do the most horrendous things to others without condemnation by society and even peers. This is a case of class privilege that has raged for millennia where the rich can force their power over the less fortunate and there is no retribution. This is not merely a sexual issue, but class warfare where rape and humiliation is the weapon to keep the oppressed in their place. Yes, you do right in broadening the term, rape, to include the many who are shamed and humiliated beyond sexual assault.
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Food for Thought:
We should think of and deal with rape as a much broader issue that goes way beyond the horrible physical violation of sexual rape to include oppression, control and abuse of the many by the privileged and powerful class.
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